Device for determining shrinkage in garments



Feb. 15, 1944. s PQLLQCK 2,341,880.

DEVICE FOR DETERMINING SHRINKAGE IN GARMENTS Filed'March 31, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Illl'lllllllllllllll g Inventor N 301/ fi/o/ve'v POL L 0 CK,

Feb. 15; 1944.

B. s. POLLOCK 2,341,880 DEVICE FOR DETERMINING SHRINKAGE IN GARMENTS Filed March 31, 1942 ZSheets-Sheet 2 naw =;u

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ZEN J/D/vN POL LOCK,

' iMW/Mit Patented Feb. 15, 1944 UNITED DEVICE FOR' DETERIIHNING SHRINKAGE IN GARMENTS Ben Sidney Pollock, Fort Smith, Ark. Application March 31, 1942, Serial No. 437,052

3 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for determining shrinkage in garments, the principal object in view being to provide a simply constructed, easily operated, inexpensive device for checking measurements of dresses and the like before and after dry cleaning to ascertain whether or not shrinkage has occurred.

Other and subordinate objects are also comprehended by my invention, all of which, together with the precise nature of my improvements,-will be readily understood when the succeeding description and claims are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of my improved garment checking device, in its preferred embodiment,

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation,

Figure 3 is a view in vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a view in rear elevation, and

Figure 5 is a view in transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, according to my invention, an elongated rectangular frame is provided for suspension, in any suitable manner, in upended position and which includes a panel I of the requisite size for hanging of a dress of any size alongside the front of the same with substantial clearance above the top and bottom of the dress. Extending rearwardly around the edges of the panel I are top, bottom and side bars, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, forming an open-back housing for a purpose presently seen. Extending forwardly of the panel I around the edges of the frame are molding strips including side pieces 5 each provided in the inner side face thereof with a vertically extending guide groove 6.

A measuring bar 1 extends lengthwise across the front face of the panel I with its ends fitted between the side pieces 5 with a slight clearance, said bar being suitable spaced forwardly of the panel I to obviate frictional contact with the same. A pair of plate-like shoes 8 suitably fixed to the rear face of the measuring bar I adjacent the opposite ends thereof and extending into the guide grooves 6 provide for vertical sliding adjustment of said bar I in a fixed path.

A pair of cables 9 suspend the measuring bar I, said cables being fixed at ends thereof in any suitable manner tothe shoes 8 and trained over a. pair of pulleys In suitably mounted in the upper corners of the panel I to rotate in apertures II in said panel. The other ends of the cables 9 hang pendent behind the panel I in the housing formed by the bars 2, 3 and 4, and have suitably secured thereto counterweights I2.

Means are provided for suspending a dress, or other garment alongside the front face of the panel I in front of the measuring bar I and comprising the following: In the vertical center of the panel I is a yoke I3 upstanding from the top bar 2 and described molding. A coil spring I4 is suitably secured at one end in the top of the yoke I3 to depend through a notch I5 in the described molding alongside the front of the panel I. The coil spring I4 is provided with a lower end eye I6 for coupling to the hook II of a conventional wire clothes hanger I8 adapted to be suspended by said spring against the front face of the panel I to lie parallel with said face. A pair of roller-like stops I9 are provided on the front face of the panel I in laterally spaced relation upon opposite sides of the vertical center of said panel I to stabilize the hanger I8 and limit upward movement of the same under the action of the spring I4, the arrangement being such that said hanger will be suspended adjacent the top of said panel with its diagonal side resting against said rollers. In the vertical center of the panel I, on the front face thereof, a vertically extending half-inch scale is provided, the half-inch graduations of which are designated in successive series 0 to 9, with the numbers increasing in value in each series downwardly. The described vertical scale extends to the bottom of the panel I from a point intermediate the stops I9. The measuring bar I is provided along its top and bottom edges, on its outer front face, with half-inch scales, each having a zero graduation at the transverse center of the bar and being numbered in successive series ranging from 0 to 9, with the numbered calibrations increasing in value in each series outwardly toward each end of the bar. Thus, the two horizontal scales are uniform in measurement relation to the aforementioned vertical scale. Also, the bar I is of a width corresponding to the standardized 10-inch measurements between the Waist and hip line of dresses. Further, the innermost series on each side of the center zero may be colored the same and in alternately different colors in each series for contrast to facilitate reading the same, but since such coloring forms no part of the invention, it has not been illustrated in the drawings.

In the use of the described invention, before a dress, or similar garment, is cleaned, it is hung on the hanger I8 and the latter attached to the spring M which is stretched so that the hanger may be placed underneath and against the stops l9 and thereby establish a standard position on the device for every dress. With the dress centered relative to the vertical scale, the front and back bottom hems of the garment or dress are then adjusted until they hang at the same level, and this level, or length of the dress, is read on the vertical scale and recorded as a single digit, for instance 9, if that be the reading. The measuring bar 1 may next be placed in position such that the upper edge thereof is behind the bottom of the armholes and a reading taken at this point, on the upper scale of the bar from the same numbers appearing at both sides of the dress. The reading may be recorded as a single digit, for instance 4. Next, the measuring bar is lowered behind the dress until the upper edge scale registers with the waist line of the dress. The dress being centered, the width of the waist is checked on both sides of the said upper edge scale and like numbers on each side and also recorded as a single digit, such, for instance, as 3, assuming that to be the reading. We now have the recording of the three measurements as 943. Next, without moving the measuring bar, the hip line measurement is checked on the lower edge scale of said bar in the same manner as the waist measurements. If the measurement reading be 6, it may be recorded after the other three measurement recordings and we now have the measurement reading 9436. After dry cleaning and finishing, the described measurement operation is repeated to determine whether shrinkage has occurred. This may be done on the same or another similar apparatus.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to impart a clear understanding of my invention without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention as described is susceptible of modification without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described a panel adapted to be arranged in upright position, means mounted on said panel for suspending a dress hanger in front of said panel and in centered relation thereto, and means for checking the width of the dress at the waist and hip line concurrently comprising a scale bar mounted on said panel for vertical traveling movement behind the dress, the first-mentioned means comprising a coil spring suspended at the top of the panel in front of the same for tensioning downwardly and for attachment of the dress hanger thereto, and a pair of stops on said panel at opposite sides of said spring, respectively, for limiting upward movement of the hanger under reaction of the spring.

2. In a device of the class described a panel adapted to be arranged in upright position, means mounted on said panel for suspending a dress hanger in front of said panel in centered relation thereto, and means for checking the width of the dress at the waist and hip line concurrently comprising a scale bar mounted on said panel for vertical traveling movement behind the dress, the mounting for said bar comprising counterbalancing devices therefor.

3. In a device of the class described a panel adapted to be arranged in upright position, means mounted on said panel for suspending a dress hanger in front of said panel in centered relation thereto, and means for checking the width of the dress at the waist and hip line concurrently comprising a scale bar mounted on said panel for vertical traveling movement behind the dress, and said bar being of a width corresponding to the average distance between the waist and hip lines of a dress and having scales along both side edges thereof.

BEN SIDNEY POLLOCK. 

